Juice the Pig by Martine Oborne illustrated by Axel Scheffler
Macmillan Children's Books
Runner Up: Autumn/Fall 1996
ages: 2-6
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Juice, a pig with a taste for millinery, is the unlikely hero of this variation on the familiar theme of coming of age. Disproving his mother's prediction that he has "many lessons to learn in life", and he will "learn none of them from hats", the pig's encounters with giraffe, a crocodile and a band of monkeys teach him to be a "Determined, Brave and Patient Pig". After giving his "let's-cuddle-up sort of hat" to an unfortunate mouse, Juice finally adds "Kind" to his list, and is rewarded by his mother with tea and a new hat.
Martine Oborne, formerly an investment banker, writes well. Her plot has all the qualities of traditional stories with a repetition of similar events culminating in a scene that shows that the character has learned something from the previous encounters. The timeless message that it is good to share is one that two to five year olds need be reminded of all the time. The hats have amusing descriptive names -- and the inside cover has a display of the hero's entire collection, which would have made even Imelda Marcos gasp.
The book is less well served by its cover. The hero's banal name, and the stupid expression on the cartoon-like illustration, gives little clue to the illustrative and textual delights to be found inside.
I Wish My Brother Was a Dog
by Carol Diggory Shields illustrated by Paul Meisel
Orchard Books
Runner Up: Summer 1998
ages: 2-6
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Have you ever read a children's book that you wished you had written? I Wish My Brother Was a Dog is such a book. It is a one trick pony, milked for all it is worth, and surprisingly, a winner.
It is narrated by a boy who is around four years old. His cheerful, crawling and innocently destructive brother is Andy. The book is addressed to Andy and that is where the majority of the textual charm lies.
Paul Meisel's partnership with Diggory Shields has once again proven to be a successful one. Not since their I Am Really a Princess has illustration been so intricately linked to text. All the brother's bile and the baby's virtuousness are captured. Andy sits devotedly acting out his part in his brother's fantasy as baby cum dog. The older brother is depicted with gnashing teeth, and devilishly sly looks.
Among the older brother's fantasy, sharks swim about in a pool in front of the toy shelves. Andy leaps to catch a frizbee above the open jaws of an alligator. The vet prepares an enormous needle to inject in the sickly Andy's bottom.
The doggy details are amusing. Women's pet related fashion is fully explored, as well as, home furnishings and hedges.
The fantasy ends with the sale of Andy at a pet fair. The story ends with the understanding that with siblings, like "dames", you can't live with them and you can't live without them. Any parent can tell you that that is the truth.
In the Beginning by Jane Ray
Orchard
Runner Up: Spring 1998
ages: 3-8
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Jane Ray has realized something very important. Few people tend to master more than one skill. As a brilliant illustrator, she tends not delve into original texts, she adapts or re-tells (as it is sometimes phrased). The result is that when one comes across one of her books, one is never disappointed. The stories are tried and sometimes true.
In the Beginning is a compilation of three previously released stories: The Story of Creation, <../religion/bible/bible.htm#noahray>Noah's Ark, and <../religion/christianity/christian.htm#ray>The Story of Christmas. They are an excellent mix of heavenly hoo-ha and salt of the earth kind of folks. The first story is challenging for the young because the concept of pre-creation is as difficult for them as it is for us. Noah's Ark is usually familiar to children and when it is not, the shipload of animals is a great draw. The last story, for those who have not been brought up in the Christian tradition, besides being beautifully drawn, clears up a lot of mysteries such as why Jesus lay in a manger. For those who know the story, the straightforward story line will combat Paddington's Christmas or some other history-less tome.
The success of Jane Ray is that her books pass the adult and child appreciation test with flying colors. While children are soaking up the scenes of Noah's family pitching the ark, adults can study the mock architectural plans of the structure.
Why do children love animals so much? There is not one conclusive answer and Ray does not sit back and wait for one. It is not just in the story of Noah's Ark that she lays them on thickly. The creation story devotes nearly half the book to them. In the annunciation scene a cat appears as well as two chickens, a rabbit and six birds.
Unlike Damien Hirst or many other modern artists of today, there is a sense with Ray that she has studied her art history. She clearly draws inspiration from many of the great masters of the brush. Just as in with fifteenth and sixteenth century paintings of angels, Ray's angels have fleshy and feathery wings. She displays cross sections of seedpods, embryos of birds and various eggshell patterns. Touches like this don't go unnoticed. Adults may certainly be found with this book when the children are asleep. There simply isn't time during a fast page-turning read, to read the text and admire the artwork in all its intricacy.
Lastly, Jane Ray draws as if she is colour blind to race. She seems to have randomly chosen Adam to have brown skin when Eve is fair and blonde. Mary has so often been depicted with Aryan features and colouring. Here she is capped with black hair and swarthy skin. Joseph looks equally Semitic.
Bible stories have never looked this good. We can only hope she'll illustrate more of them.
click to read reviews of other books connected with <../religion/religf.htm>the bible and religion
What! by Kate Lum illustrated by Adrian Johnson
Bloomsbury
Runner Up: Autumn/Fall 1998
ages: 2-5
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On the back cover of What! it reads: "Poor Granny, what can she do as Patrick sets her
yet another task just so he can stay out of bed?" That is an incorrect analysis of this book. Unlike Bedtime for Frances by Russell Hoban, where Frances is actively disrupting her parents' evening by coming out of bed a number of times, Patrick seems innocent. One need not avoid this book for fear that it will put naughty ideas inside your child's head.
What! is about a Granny who is having her grandson to stay. When she tells him to go to bed, he replies that he does not have a bed. Purple rinse, butch Granny races out to the forest with her axe. She chops down trees, saws, drills, hammers and paints a bed for Patrick. The story continues in the same vein with pillow, blanket and teddy.
Where as Frances mimics all the familiar requests; glasses of water, something to eat, monsters banished from the room, Patrick just needs the basics.
The title of the book comes from Granny's response each time she is alerted to Patrick's current need. The word "what" appears in large print with a series of exclamation points and question marks on its tail. This one word becomes the story's refrain. The reader can milk it for all its possibilities.
Johnson's illustrations are extremely amusing. They are unique and use an unusual and pleasing pallet. Patrick looks like a junior Elvis. Arrows show Granny's arduous trek from her house to a field of sleeping sheep. Carted wool and purple dye leaks out of framed pictures. Shadows and teddies are twenty times larger than life.
This book is a perfect remedy to a frustrating session with children. Read it and laugh at Granny's expense. She won't mind. She has created the situation herself.
The Clever Cowboy by Angela McAllister illustrated by Katherine Lodge
DK
Runner Up: Winter 1998
ages: 3-6
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If you want to take a trip to the Southwest of the United States without leaving the nursery, The Clever Cowboy can transport you there. Filled with Sheriffs, cowboys and outlaws, this story will have you dancing the yaketty-yak faster than you can say Roy Rogers.
The story is about a pancake contest that causes a solar eclipse, in a way, and reunites a long lost sister with her brother.
Katherine Lodge has done exactly what the PBQ has been suggesting to art students - illustrate but not write. Having studied at The School of Visual Arts, New York and the Royal College in London, Lodge is loaded with self-confidence and a strong sense of style.
The Clever Cowboy radiates with colour and movement. There is an emphasis on shadows, in fact Clever asks the time from his. The pictures are packed with detail. Dorling Kindersley's usual way with fonts will be fun for rising readers.
This tale is humorous and inventive and simply a lot of fun.
I Love You, Blue Kangaroo! by Emma Chichester Clark
Andersen Press
Runner Up: Summer 1999
ages: 2-5
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When I was ten, my best-friend and I amassed a large circle of friends. One day, we needed to reinforce the fact that we were the best of best-friends, and so we ignored everyone else for a week.
I was reminded of this episode while reading I Love You, Blue Kangaroo!. Relationships with young people can be fragile and uncertain. Sometimes one needs to be reassured of one's standing.
In this story, a one kangarooed girl, Lily, suddenly receives a menagerie of cuddly toys. Blue Kangaroo loses his prized place. One night he is pushed out of bed by the other animals and crawls into Lily's brother's cot. Lily is distraught and trades all her new toys with her brother, for her blue kangaroo.
The pictures in I Love You are very appealing. Lily's house and garden are large. Her hair is always adorned with a grand bow. Not a single teddy is a dud. And all her relatives look odd and interesting.
With that kind of back drop, the story, though not particularly eventful, is poignant. The emotions of the blue kangaroo are compelling. His ultimate reunion with Lily, is a relief, and a joy.
The outcome with my friend was rather different. We were re-assured of our friendship but the exercise was painful to the others. Lucky for Lily, her ousted mates were not animate. Lily had the last word.
also by Emma Chichester Clark:
<../bigissues/bigissues.htm#more>More in the big issues section
The Brave Sister retold by Fiona Waters illust Danuta Mayer
Bloomsbury
Runner Up: Spring 1999
ages: 5-8
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If a child's school does not teach the Greek myths, then it is possible that that child might never study them. The same is true for Grimm's Fairy Tales, the Bible and the Arabian Nights.
As a result, one tries to compensate at home. But the longer and more complicated the text, the more one may put it off, in favour of a good Disney video.
The Arabian Nights is a great literary work which is often overlooked in the West. Introducing individual stories in the form of picture books might plant the seeds for more mature discoveries. The Brave Sister is a wonderful story from this goldmine of tales.
"Once upon a time when magic still worked, Persia was ruled by a sultan who was a good and wise man, much loved by his people..."
Thus this exciting and romantic story begins. It contains all the classic ingredients of storytelling; wishes fulfilled, people banished, difficult but rewarding quests and wickedness punished.
Fiona Waters lovingly retells the story of three sisters who marry a Sultan, the Sultan's baker and the Sultan's cook. The two jealous sisters' plot to oust the third, is a success. That is the stage from whence the story takes off.
Daunta Mayer, a Camberwell School of Arts graduate, does a brilliant job of drawing the two princes and the princess with the stars in her hair. Her gardens are lush and her talking bird exotic. Gold shines from bridegroom to bridal.
This is a gem worth having. It will appeal to boys and girls alike.
The Wise Doll by Hiawyn Oram illust Ruth Brown
Red Fox
Runner Up: Winter 1999/2000
ages: 4-7
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Have you ever come across Baba Yaga? She is an old-fashioned Russian witch. She is multi-faceted, so that sometimes she is evil and eats children (as in the story of Tishka) and other times she is simply sinister. She is best known for her house which is a mobile home that sits on a pair of scrawny chicken legs.
The Wise Doll is about two sisters who dislike their third sister (unfortunately named, Too Nice). They send her to Baba Yaga knowing that she is doomed. Luckily, Too Nice is protected by her rag doll, who helps her pass many tests and ultimately triumph over her sisters.
Hiawyn Oram has chosen to retell this compelling tale of sibling rivalry at its extreme. For parents experiencing it from the sidelines, the story itself holds no solutions unless you would like to lose your naughty child to the devouring jaws of a bejeweled toad. But The Wise Doll does provide grounds for discussing sibling unrest.
Ruth Brown's pictures are beautifully done. Baba Yaga's ashen face and pointy black nails are haunting. Too Nice and her sisters are identical triplets and yet their differing personalities are evident. The toads have wonderful waistcoats.
<../prizewinners/prizewinners.htm#princess>Princess Camomile, also by Hiawyn Oram, won a PBQ prize too
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